sbo333Michael Carrick has confirmed he will retire at the end of the season. His years of service will be fondly remembered at Manchester United, but did English football ever truly embrace his qualities?

He has won five Premier League titles, one Champions League and six other major trophies. He has been described as "the best English player in the game" by Sir Alex Ferguson and made nearly 500 appearances for Manchester United. But as Michael Carrick announces he will call time on his playing career at the end of the season, it is difficult to ignore the feeling that his talents were underappreciated.

It is 12 years now since he swapped Tottenham for Manchester United in a deal worth close to £19m. He became the fifth-most expensive player in their history and many wondered whether he was up to it. Carrick was an elegant passer but was he tough enough? Was he authoritative enough? And did he score enough goals? sbo333

Perceptions were shaped by comparisons to the all-action Roy Keane, whose No 16 shirt he inherited, and the doubts persisted even after Carrick helped United to three consecutive Premier League titles and that famous Champions League triumph in 2008. Carrick was a quiet character and largely unsung figure in a team of stars.

"Straight away and over the following years, even amongst my friends and even when we were winning leagues, there were challenges to convince people about how good a player Michael was, and how important he was to the team," said Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville before Carrick's Manchester United testimonial last year.

"Those battles never took place within the dressing room, though. One of the biggest compliments you can pay Michael is that the team-mates around him had huge appreciation for him. He made everybody play better." Carrick did the "unseen things", added Neville. "The sign of a good player is that they always look in control. Michael was always in control."

Carrick has been particularly important for his midfield partners. Paul Scholes used to talk up the security Carrick provided behind him, and he has been similarly influential for Paul Pogba more recently. "I listen to his advice," Pogba said in September, "every time, before a game, he comes to talk to me and he will ask me things and keep me calm. He is a mentor to me and someone I look up to."sbo333